THEATER
Innocence On the Run
A man falsely accused of murder, set to music and dance
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
Ross Golan is a multi-platinum
singer-songwriter
best known for crafting
hits for pop stars like
Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
But now he can add another feather
to his cap: dramatist. Not only
did he compose the music and lyrics
for his new Off-Broadway show
“The Wrong Man,” but he wrote
the book as well. For a fi rst timer,
it’s an impressive effort.
“The Wrong Man” is no ordinary
musical. It is entirely sung through
and focuses on songs and choreography,
with the book almost as an
afterthought. Which makes sense
since the show was born as a solo
acoustic performance, fi rst staged
in the living rooms of Golan’s
friends, then morphed into a fulllength
concept album. “The Wrong
Man,” which registers more like a
highly staged concert, has been
gestating for well over a decade.
The slender narrative follows
the trajectory of Duran, a rootless
young man with serious abandonment
issues, who hooks up
with Mariana, a smokin’ hot dirty
blonde in a Reno dive bar. Later he
learns she is pregnant, but before
the couple can forge a life together,
Duran is framed by her crazed
ex-husband for murders he didn’t
commit, is wrongly convicted, and
faces execution. And that’s pretty
much it.
The production, courtesy of MCC
Theater, is so tight it feels Broadway
ready. It doesn’t hurt that the
director is Thomas Kail and the
orchestrator is Alex Lacamoire,
the team behind megahit “Hamilton.”
The show boasts stunning
choreography by Travis Wall, the
breakout star from “So You Think
You Can Dance,” and an elegantly
spare scenic design by Rachel
Hauck, who won the Tony last season
for “Hadestown.”
The talented fi ve-person band
is featured prominently onstage,
serving as backdrop for the action.
Golan’s appealing score is a soulful
mix of contemporary pop, driving
hip-hop, gospel, and folk rock.
Ciara Renée and Joshua Henry in the MCC Theater production of Ross Golan’s “The Wrong Man,” directed by Thomas Kail, at the Newman Mills Theater in
Hell’s Kitchen through November 17.
Ryan Vasquez and Ciara Renée in “The Wrong Man.”
The performances are fi rst-rate.
As Duran, Joshua Henry (Tonynominated
for his role as Billy Bigelow
in the recent revival of “Carousel”)
is as good as it gets. His
vocalizations are clear and pure
and potent. He paints a striking
portrait of a man, forced to leave
home at age 16 to escape an alcoholic
father who “beat mom like a
piñata,” who fi nds himself at the
wrong place at the wrong time.
Ciara Renée brings an unexpected
tenderness to the anguished
MATTHEW MURPHY
Mariana, revealing a warm center
under a tough-as-nails exterior.
Ryan Vasquez (“Hamilton”) is
supremely menacing as Duran’s
nemesis. His two songs deliver a
jolt of wry wit and are among the
show’s strongest, a welcome counterpoint
to the string of numbers
spotlighting Duran. The spirited
ensemble is equally gifted in both
the song and dance.
Not that it’s a perfect musical.
Despite powerhouse vocals and
eye-popping movement, the emotion
MATTHEW MURPHY
does not land as powerfully as
it should. Many songs are expository,
recounting stories instead of
dramatizing action in the moment,
and that curbs emotional investment
on our part. What’s more, the
relationship between Duran and
Mariana is only briefl y sketched.
Perhaps another duet between the
couple would drive home why the
stakes are so high once tragedy
strikes.
During “The Wrong Man”’s long
development process, a trend in
true-crime entertainment took
hold, with shows like Netfl ix’s
“Making a Murderer,” HBO’s “The
Jinx,” and the “Serial” podcast,
and “The Wrong Man” got a hefty
boost from that wave. The musical
drama is so specifi c, so quirky,
and feels so real people assumed
it belongs to that genre. Little did
they realize that Duran’s story is
purely fi ctional — Golan made it
all up.
THE WRONG MAN | MCC Theater
| Newman Mills Theater, 511 W.
52nd St. | Through Nov. 17: Tue.-
Thu. at 7 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m.;
Wed., Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m.
| $66-$132 at mcctheater.org |
Ninety mins., with no intermission
October 10 - October 23, 2 38 019 | GayCityNews.com
/mcctheater.org
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